


Dinner

by bloopy_moons



Series: Let's Play || Salt Squad One Shots [23]
Category: Salty Boys - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dan and Gar have that Enemies to lovers relationship, Dan thinks Gar hates him, Enemies to Lovers, Gar thinks Dan hates Him, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Nin is the bestest friend a Dan could have, One-Sided Attraction, One-sided feelings, So does everyone else, So does everyone else as well, This started as a vent fic but it became cute, Wade is an asshole, Wingman Nin, but it's not, hate fest, like very light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2019-06-07 07:52:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15214550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloopy_moons/pseuds/bloopy_moons
Summary: "Remember, it would cost way less for you to chicken out instead of going,"Or, the one where Gar and Dan go on a date as a bet but maybe they don't hate each other like everyone (and theirselves) thought??





	Dinner

Dan stood in front of the bathroom mirror fixing his tie. He didn't expect to be this nervous- no, he wasn't nervous. He was just... It didn't matter. He was going to prove a point and hopefully get some free food out of it. The end.

"Sit down for gods sake, he won't be there for another 10 minutes," Nin's voice could be heard from his computer which was open to Skype. She sat at what looked to be her desk doing homework, her annoyed glaze staring at Dan as he huffed and sat down.

"Do I have to do this?" Dan whined, leaning back in his chair.

"No; Wade, Molly, and I would be very much happy if you two chickened out. Twenty dollars could get me some good pizza," Nin laughed, earning an annoyed groan from Dan.

"I shouldn't have agreed to this," Dan grumbled to himself rubbing the back of his neck. Nin muttered something under her breath, something Dan didn't catch but he shrugged it off looking through his Twitter feed.

XX

"Remember, it would cost less for you to chicken out instead of going!" Wade said hopefully through the phone as Gar drove. He could hear Molly telling Wade to stop it,

"But c'mon, do you really think that Gar and Dan could actually have dinner together without killing each other? Think about it, it's Gar and Dan!" Gar rolled his eyes as he turned the corner. The palms of his hands were sweaty even with the A/C blasting on high. He turned into Dan's apartment building and parked.

"Alright, thanks for the added confidence Wade. Wish me luck on my amazing date" Gar said sarcastically. He hung up before Wade could respond, slipping his phone in his pocket before stepping out of the car.

He wore a simple black button up shirt with a simple blue tie and dress pants. He sent a picture to Nin before Wade had called and asked if he looked fine, she responded with the OK hand emoji which Gar took positively. He wasn't sure why he wanted to look nice. It wasn't like Dan was probably going to get dressed up. Gar decided it was because of the restaurant they decided to go to. Yes it was way more expensive than he would've liked but didn't really mind.

He walked up to the door, hesitating as he held his fist to the door. This was a dumb idea, I should just go... Gar took a step to leave but stopped when he heard Dan on the other side of the door.

"I got all dressed up for this no good fucking... ugh I hate him!" Gar bit his lip, turning to face the door again and knocked three times. He felt his heart in his chest and took a step back. He stood there for a moment, Gar could faintly hear Nin yelling at Dan and smiled fondly. A minute had passed and Dan opened the door slowly, looking through the crack to see Gar.

Gar arched an eyebrow at him, Dan's face turning bright red before slamming the door in his face. More faint whispers could be heard but not made out. Eventually they stopped and Dan opened the door again, he looked flustered.

"Finally you showed up, began to think you were going to chicken out..." Gar snorted as they walked out of the apartment building.

"Says the guy who kept me waiting at the door for 3 minutes,"

"Hey! I was waiting on you for 15, I think you deserved it" Gar rolled his eyes.

"Well, Sorrry~ Princess! Didn't want to crash on the way to pick you up," Gar unlocked the doors and they both got in silently. Gar drove, making his way to the restaurant they had previously agreed on.

They stopped at a red light, the car completely silent besides the sound of the A/C pulsing through the vents. Gar looked over to Dan who was looking out the passenger side window. After a few seconds Dan looked back at Gar, both of their faces going bright red.

"What are you looking at?" Dan asked becoming defensive. Gar rolled his eyes, looking back at the light waiting for it to change.

"Nothing," the light changed and traffic began moving again. "You look nice by the way..." Dan could feel his face heat up more than it already was and snorted. He didn't actually mean it, he only said it to mock you.

The rest of the car ride was silent, neither of them wanting to break the stiff silence between them. When they eventually arrived to the restaurant neither of them said anything and exited the car.

The restaurant itself wasn't too fancy, but considering Gar's budget it was enough for them. Good smelling food escaped from the kitchen, next to him Gar could hear Dan's stomach let out a growl. He chuckled to himself, Dan sending him a glare before the hostess escorted them to their table.

They sat down and silently looked over the menus. The waitress arrived, took their order and brought them their drinks. So far so good, Gar thought to himself as he took slow sips of his drink. Neither of them said a word, the chatter from the surrounding tables filling their silence.

"So um-" Gar began, he didn't know what to say, he just wanted to break the awkwardness between them. At this point he would've preferred them bickering at each other instead of avoiding eye contact.

"H-how's your snakes?" Dan looked up from playing with the salt and pepper shakers. His face lit up ecstatically before going into detail about Charizard, Julius and Oatmeal. Gar smiled as he listened to Dan talk about them. Though, Dan stopped after a minute or two, his happy appearance morphing onto embarrassment and eventually distaste.

"I don't know why you care though..." Dan mumbled out sitting back in his chair. Gar frowned and sighed, he took a sip of his drink just as the waitress came back with their food.

Gar didn't try to start another conversation after that. He just wanted this 'date' to be over with. He looked up, seeing Dan pick at his food slowly and rolled his eyes.

"If you weren't going to eat your food you could have told me, could've just gone to McDonald's or something..." Dan glared at Gar from across the table, shoving a fork full of mashed potatoes into his mouth almost aggressively. Gar rolled his eyes once again.

"You know, I don't actually hate you," Gar bit his tongue after the words slipped out of his mouth. Great job at not talking to him, genius.

"Really?! That's hard to believe," Dan took a sip of his water. "Sometimes it feels like you would be happier if I was dead..." Gar felt a pang of guilt hit his chest, he opened his mouth to say something but stopped when the waitress came back once again.

"May I offer you two any desse-?"

"No," Dan bit out, his voice cracking as he raked his fingers through his hair. He mumbled something about going to the bathroom and left, both Gar and the waitress watching him run off worriedly.

"Can I just get the bill please?" Gar asked and the waitress nodded. Gar paid and headed towards the restrooms in search of his lost date.

Opening the door he found the restroom completely empty. For a moment he though Dan might've completely ditched Gar for an Uber, but stopped when he heard faint sniffling from the farthest stall. He approach it, knocking lightly and resting his head on the cool stall door.

"Hey Dan?" It went quite for a second before Gar heard Dan blow his nose in some toilet paper.

"What do you want, asshole?" Gar opened his mouth to reply but Dan cut him off,

"If your waiting for me to pay the bill just go, I'll pay for it myself" Gar rubbed his eye before he slid down the stall door so he was sitting, he listened as Dan sniffled a few more times.

"I already paid for the food don't worry about that,"

"Then why are you still here?" Dan's words came out like a knife, painful and venomous, making Gar flinch.

"I'm not just going to leave you her-!"

"Why not? It's not like you care about me!" Dan shouted, his voice echoing against the bathroom walls. Gar started to respond but stopped when a janitor entered. He looked around seeing Gar who waved apologetically at him.

"Bad time?" He whispered, Gar nodded and a moment later the janitor left. The bathroom was filled with uncomfortable silence, the only sounds coming from the dinning area.

Gar heard Dan flush the toilet paper away and a moment later the lock on the door clicked and Dan opened the door. Gar fell back, his head landing on one of Dan's shoes with a grunt. He opened his eyes slowly, seeing Dan looking down at him with his bright red eyes and tear stained cheeks.

He scrambled up back to his feet, a light blush covering his cheeks. Dan walked over to the sink, washing his hands and he avoided making eye contact with Gar.

"Listen Dan,"

"Just leave me alone Gar, I can find my own way home..." Dan said softly, he sniffed one last time and walked out of the bathroom.

Gar lend against the sink, facing the mirror but wasn't able to look at himself. His heart hurt, does Dan really think I hate him that much? He can't, can he? Gar hit his hand against the marble counter, the pain spreading through his hand.

The bathroom door opened again, the janitor peeking his head in once again.

"Still a bad time?" Gar shook his head rubbing his eyes, fresh tears falling out of them as he exited the restaurant. Dan was already gone, Gar left alone to his thoughts as he got into his car and drove home.

XX

The next day Gar woke up to fourteen missed calls and twenty four missed messages from Nin. Just from reading her messages Gar could tell she was angry, angry about Dan that is. He was very hesitant to answer for obvious reasons.

An angry Nin, isn't a good Nin.

Finally he responded, sending a '?' and a few seconds later his phone began ringing.

"Hel-"

"What the hell did you say to him?!"

"Uh..., what?" Gar could hear Nin let out a deep sigh.

"Your date. With Dan. As soon as he got home he came home crying about you. So I'll repeat; What. Did. You. Say?"

Gar sat silently for a few seconds as he let it all sink in. Not only did Dan cry after their "date" last night, but he also called Nin about it. While he knew Nin and Dan were close he didn't know they were that close.

"I...I didn't say anything?" Gar voice involuntarily cracked for reasons he wasn't sure of. Nin made an amused sound.

"No listen, so last night was...weird"

"'Weird'" Nin repeated

"Yeah, I mean no? I mean..."

Gar closed his eyes, his mind drifting back to the dinner and the car ride. Dan was so defensive the whole time. And then at the end, he sincerely believed that Gar hated him. Gar felt guilt rise up in him, stomach bile in the back of his throat.

"Why does he think I hate him so much?" Gar's voice was soft, almost sorrowful. Nin stopped for a minute, her temper settling as she reevaluated what was happening.

"Wait so you don't hate him?" Gar rolled his eyes

"No, actually the exact opposi-" Gar stopped, surprising himself at his own words. He could hear Nin say something but he ignored it. Gar rubbed his eyes, the thoughts running through his head being ignored.

"So you like him?"

"Yeah?"

"WELL THEN TELL HIM THAT" Nin shouted before hanging up the phone. Gar blinked as his mind began racing at what she meant.

He didn't know if he liked Dan or not, as in if he liked liked Dan. He knew he liked Dan in a friendly way, but he never gave anything else a second thought. Its not like they ever really tried to get along.

After feeding Dante and getting dressed, Gar went to sit at his computer. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew that no matter what he did Dan probably wouldn't respond, and he knew that if he didn't talk to Dan he would have to face the wrath of Nin.

Well if he won't answer my messages I guess I'll have to go to him directly.

Gar sent a quick message to Wade telling him he would be a little late to that night's Dead by Daylight games and left. It didn't take long for him to arrive to Dan's apartment, as he stood at Dan's door he felt the ping of doubt from the other day.

Taking a deep breath he rested his forehead against the hard surface of the door. He didn't know his sudden emotions, he had never experienced something like this before. It was as if someone was squeezing his heart like a balloon.

Ring, ring-

Gar took a step away from the door, reaching into his pocket for his phone. He wasn't paying attention to who it was, he just didn't want to think about what was happening to him.

"Hello?" Gar's voice sounded strained through the phone.

"Hey Gar, it's Dan..." There was a pause between the two. Gar opened his mouth to reply but Dan began to speak.

"Listen, I know you don't like me-"

"Wait, no Dan-"

"Just shut up for one second, okay Gar?!" Gar bit his bottom lip as he let Dan continue.

"You don't like me. We both know this, hell all our viewers know this, but," Dan let out a shaky breath. "I don't want to, no I can't, deal with this anymore!"

Gar could faintly hear Dan from the other side of the door, and flinched at the tone of his words. Gar could feel his heart break a little.

"Dan, I don't-"

"I said shut up, Gar. Jesus Christ, just listen to me for a sec," a sniff could be heard from the phone, Gar didn't know if it was from him or Dan.

"I like you, okay Gar?" Dan sounded defeated. "Ive liked you for a while now but I realized that you don't like me back and I'm okay with that,"

"No, your not," Gar said. He could hear the pain echoing off of Dan's words. Then he heard a sob escape Dan, and he realized what the pain in his chest meant.

"Dan open your door,"

"What?"

"I said open your door," Gar watched the door knob as he waited for Dan. Slowly the door opened, one of Dan's red and teared eyes peeking through the opening.

"Why are you here? You just want to make fun of me or something?" Gar hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

"No, I'm not. Can you open the door all the way?" Gar's voice cracked unexpectedly as he spoke. Dan squinted his eyes at him before slowly opening the door more.

"Okay I did, now wha-" Dan was cut off by Gar grabbing his face in his hands and holding their lips together. Dan let out a shaky breath, more tears falling from both of their eyes.

They stopped out of breath and Gar hugged Dan close to him. They stood like that until they both calmed down.

"We still have a few hours until we're supposed to play Dead by Daylight, why don't we retry that date?" Gar said causing Dan to chuckle to himself.

"I would love to"


End file.
